Perry's mysterious corporate cash

A mysterious Houston company with links to a major Rick Perry donor helped kick-start the Texas governor’s presidential campaign this summer by quietly directing $100,000 into a super PAC that aired statewide ads in Iowa touting Perry as “ a better option” for president — even before he announced his candidacy.

The contribution — from a company listed as Blackstone Limited I — accounted for most of the $136,000 taken in by a super PAC called Jobs for Iowa, which quickly spent all of its cash and folded up shop, according to a report filed this week with the Federal Election Commission.

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There’s not a lot of public information available on Blackstone Limited, such as a corporate website or public list of directors, but Texas state corporations filings suggest it’s linked to an energy investment firm called Quantum Energy Partners, which was co-founded in 1998 by major Perry donors S. Wil VanLoh Jr. and Toby Neugebauer.

After this story posted, Neugebauer, who is the son of Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas), contacted POLITICO to explain that Blackstone is wholly owned by his immediate family. The contribution to Jobs for Iowa was given through Blackstone “based on convenience,” Toby Neugebauer said, and not to conceal the source.

Still, the case of Blackstone and Jobs for Iowa illustrates how tricky it can be to trace the explosion of cash behind the super PAC ads defining the GOP presidential primary. And it’s likely just the tip of the iceberg, since the major super PACs actively backing presidential candidates are taking advantage of loopholes that will allow them to conceal their donors until Jan. 31 — after votes have been cast in the first few critical nominating contests.

In fact, the only reason Jobs for Iowa had to file a report listing its donors is that it essentially was run out of business by another super PAC backing Perry, Make Us Great Again, which was unofficially blessed by close Perry allies and seems to have consolidated big donor cash.

Jobs for Iowa’s FEC report hints at bigger plans that were aborted, listing expenditures to multiple big-time media firms that suggest the group may have produced additional ads that never ran, and also showing that it refunded $25,000 of Blackstone Limited’s contribution in late November.

The two Perry donors from Quantum Energy, VanLoh Jr. and Neugebauer, have donated a combined $217,000 to Perry’s gubernatorial campaigns. The $5.7 billion private equity firm they co-founded has invested heavily in natural gas drilling in North Texas’s Barnett Shale formation, which is regulated by a state commission appointed by Perry.

According to a July story in the Texas Observer, Neugebauer in 2009 loaned Perry his private jet to fly from Austin to Biloxi, Miss., for a meeting of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, at which Perry emphasized the need for oil and natural gas production.

Quantum is registered at the same Houston address as the one listed in Jobs for Iowa’s FEC filing for Blackstone Limited. And Texas corporations filings also show that same address for a company called Blackstone Investments I, Ltd., which lists the same agent as Quantum — James V. Baird, managing director and general counsel of Quantum.

Baird and VanLoh did not respond to email and phone messages about Blackstone or the donation.

Nor did Chris Gober, the lawyer for Jobs for Iowa, who was paid $27,500 by the super PAC.

UPDATE: This story was updated to include information provided by Toby Neugebauer.